James Gunn recently clarified when Superman: Legacy started development. While reports suggested Henry Cavill's Man of Steel 2 was in development, Gunn and Safran had other plans for the franchise.Gunn appears candid on social media, clearing up misconceptions and confusion surrounding his DCU plans, like correcting The Hollywood Reporter on Batman and Superman's age in the upcoming reboot. However, what is most revealing is how long Gunn has been working on some of the upcoming DC films that are a part of the DCU reboot.Gunn disclosed on his Instagram story that the DCU isn’t being fast-tracked, as Creature Commandos and Superman: Legacy had been in production before he took the job at DC Studios, which was first hinted at by The Hollywood Reporter stating “that Gunn and producer Peter Safran are in talks with Warners for a mystery movie, possibly more.” It is no secret that studio executives such as Toby Emmerich and his predecessor Walter Hamada were already moving to reboot the DCEU after Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman. However, other executives continued to pursue the original direction, like Warner Bros. Pictures heads Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, who searched for writers to pen Man of Steel 2 starring Cavill. On Twitter, Gunn also confirmed that Superman: Legacy has always been a separate project from Man of Steel 2 and that he was hired to write it over six months ago.
After Gunn and Safran took control of DC Studios, Man of Steel 2 was canceled in pursuit of Superman: Legacy. This conflicts with Gunn not firing Henry Cavill, even from a technical standpoint. It may be more accurate to say that Gunn's The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker, the upcoming Creature Commandos, and Superman: Legacy were a decision-making factor in having him lead DC Studios, rather than coming to those decisions after. Understandably, fans of the franchise are disappointed. This includes Cavill, whom Warner Bros. asked to announce his exciting return a day before it was announced that Gunn and Safran were to take over DC Studios.
It was reported that Dwayne Johnson went behind certain executives to get the green light for Superman's secret cameo in Black Adam, which supports disagreements behind closed doors on how to move forward with Superman. Seeing how De Luca and Abdy were reportedly working on Man of Steel 2, it is no surprise that the Warner Bros. co-heads green-lit Cavill’s Black Adam cameo to build momentum towards what they thought would amount to the sequel at the time.
Superman: Legacy is currently in development.
Source: James Gunn/Twitter